Thwaite Lane and Long lane are both very old roads, probably used in the Middle Ages to transport a variety of materials including salt and charcoal, and by sheep and cattle drovers who were moving the stock around the countryside. They were used extensively by monasteries to link their large upland farmsteads. The major monasteries in this area were Fountains Abbey, Furness Abbey and Sawley. The original routes only became walled in the late Middle Ages with the introduction of the Enclosure Act and the dissolution of the monasteries, with some still unwalled at the start of the 18th Century.

Thwaite Lane is part of an ancient route connecting Fountains Abbey with its many interests towards the West, particularly the upland sheep farms which were a source of wealth as a result of the wool they produced. The route is an extension of probably the best example of a 'green lane' in the whole of the Dales - Mastiles Lane between Malham and Wharfedale. Long Lane connects Clapham and Selside and then ran northwards towards Gearstones connecting with other routes heading for Hawes and other parts of Wensleydale. The route had probably originated further south, perhaps from Sawley Abbey. The old roads nearly always followed the drier routes of the limestone, necessitating quite an amount of ascent and descent. In the late 18th Century the Turnpike Act led to the construction of better roads more suited to wheeled transport - the stagecoach. These commonly occupied what had been wetter sites lower down the valley side, requiring much drainage and improvement to provide the Turnpike roads. The Keighley to Kendal Turnpike road ran through Clapham with a Toll house between Clapham and Austwick. The New Inn at Clapham was built as a coaching inn to service the trade along that route, and the present Cave Rescue buildings were the stables. The Turnpike road originally went from Clapham to Ingleton via Newby Cote, but around 1820 a new road was constructed lower down the valley on the present site of the A65. The increases in vehicle size meant that both the major bridges in Clapham have needed widening and this can be seen under the bridge near the New Inn. The movement of routes further down the valley sides has continued with the Clapham and Settle bypasses.